Sylvain Mercadier, a French journalist, and his fixer Mohammad Fayad were detained by Israeli soldiers in Syria and were released on January 8. The Israeli army confirmed Mercadier was ‘briefly arrested’ after contacting soldiers. Following his arrest, Mercadier described the ordeal, including being handcuffed and blindfolded for over four hours while facing mistreatment. He reported the seizure of his SIM card, camera memory cards, and money belonging to his fixer. The situation arose as Mercadier was reportedly covering Israeli military advancements in the region.

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